My grandma, nonna Angela used to say: cooking is not all about taking care of others. Comfort food is for those days when you’re a little down when you need cheering up…and also for the times when all you really want to do is relax with something easy to make and delicious to eat.
Pizza, ravioli, frittata, a wholesome seafood stew…and a panettone bread- and – butter pudding to warm every bone in your body.
Today, for me, pizza is my cibo per l’anima: food for the soul. Here is my favorite pizza recipe: the traditional Italian recipe for pizza Margherita:
Servings 4
Ingredients:
- 1 quantity basic pizza dough
- 90 ml/ 3 fl oz. olive oil, plus extra for greasing
- 2 small onions, diced
- 400 grams/ 14 oz. canned diced tomatoes
- 500 grams/ 1lb. 3 oz passata
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 400 grams/ 14 oz. mozzarella cheese
- salt and paper
- Flour, for dusting
- Basil leaves, to garnish
Instructions:
- Heat 4 tablespoons of the oil in a heavy-based saucepan, add the onions and sauté until translucent. Add the canned tomatoes, passata, and oregano and season with salt and pepper. Cook the sauce for about 30 minutes over a medium heat.
- Preheat the oven to 220C/ 425F/ Gas Mark 7, and grease four round pizza tins. Divide the dough into four equal portions and roll them out into rounds on a floured work surface. Place the rounds in the tins.
- Thinly slice the cheese. Brush the dough with the tomato sauce, lay the cheese slices on top and drizzle over the remaining oil. Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes, then garnish with basil leaves and serve immediately.
Buon Appetito!
